


Danganronpa: Hope's Chains

by AmazingMewtwo_Writes



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Dangan Ronpa Spoilers, Fan Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Fanganronpa, Female Protagonist, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, It's set after the HPA arc so spoilery stuff is referenced, Original Character Death(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Semi-Illustrated, like a lot of it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:47:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28848552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmazingMewtwo_Writes/pseuds/AmazingMewtwo_Writes
Summary: Years have passed since the Tragedy and, with the world rebuilding, Ultimate Despair's grip has all but vanished and the killing games have become a distant memory.Now, a new class have been forced to fight for the right to survive.Sixteen students.One hostess.One way out.The Nouveau Killing Game has begun.~~~Currently on - Prologue - Killing Game Nouveau
Relationships: Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 18
Kudos: 5





	1. Hello, Hope's Peak Academy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Katsumi's first day at school takes a pretty sudden turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's official y'all. Mew's back on her BS  
> I've had the idea for this Fangan for a reeeeaaaally long time and have finally got the first chapter out now!  
> And as y'all can see, it'll be semi-illustrated! (it'll mean you'll have to look at my sub-par art every so often but still woo)  
> That'll mean updates might take longer but it's hopefully cool  
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!!!

_..._

“… _It looks like everything’s ready.”_

“ _Well why the long face? That’s good, isn’t it?”_

“ _It is. I just…Can’t believe I’m actually doing this.”_

“ _Come on. This is what you wanted, remember?”_

“… _Yes. Of course.”_

“ _Think about it! Just the fact that this is happening alone with shake the planet to the core! Watching them all die one by one will be so much fun!”_

“ _You’re getting carried away. There’s a reason for this. Remember?”_

“ _Yeah, yeah…It’s all because of **that guy** or whatever…”_

“ _Yes. All of this is **for his sake.** Don’t forget that.”_

“ _Alright, alright…! You’re no fun…What about the girl?”_

“ _I followed your advice. She won’t fall out of line.”_

“ _Perfect! I mean, we can’t exactly do this if we didn’t have her, right?”_

“… _I’d rather we just killed her, but whatever…You have them, right?”_

“ _Yep, got them right here. Sure, they technically haven’t finished development, so there might be some side-effects, but you just go where you wanna go and turn it on. That’s all you gotta do.”_

“ _Perfect.”_

“ _Okay. See you on the other side.”_

“ _ **The new killing game begins now.** ”_

**[{BGM}](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8Rq8MjAKkQ) **

Hope’s Peak Academy.

For a long time, that name didn’t really inspire hope in anyone.

Because of the killing games orchestrated by the Ultimate Despair as well as unethical actions by the academy’s steering committee, hope was the last thing people thought of when hearing about Hope’s Peak Academy.

But largely in part to Makoto Naegi’s stint as the new headmaster, the academy’s status as a pillar of hope for Ultimate Students everywhere was eventually recognised once again.

Even long after his and Kyoko Kirigiri’s retirement from their positions at the academy, this fact continued to ring loud and true.

The school managed to rebuild with some help from the Future Foundation, to make sure another killing game would never happen again.

The Reserve Course re-opened, with a brand new steering committee to make sure that what was then dubbed as “the Izuru Kamakura incident” wouldn’t happen.

Hope’s Peak even started sponsoring attractions and events.

And of course, year after year, new classes of Ultimate Students were scouted and accepted to hone their talents and become pillars of hope that the Ultimates of the future could aspire to.

Even now, Katsumi Akira was still surprised she even got in.

For something as simple as being able to play rhythm games, no less.

But despite this, here she was.

Standing at the gates of Hope’s Peak Academy, bearing the title of the Ultimate Rhythm Game Master.

She had rosy skin and her pink eyes shone with ambition. Her hair – which flowed from a dark purple-ish grey into a faded pink – was tied into a bouncy ponytail, with cat-ear headphones to complete the look. She was wearing a hoodie; with a pink hood and a logo of a heart with a pulse beat through it, with the sleeves rolled up, and a pink ribbon bracelet around her right arm. She had pink shorts and black semi-transparent stockings and pink shoes on her lower half.

She was ready. She was going to do this!

“Hey, Kat! You just gonna stand here all day?”

Katsumi stopped and turned around to the source of the voice.

A boy – the same age as her but still a bit taller – was standing behind her, with almost ghostly-pale skin and red eyes. His messy black hair hung on his shoulders, with a spike on his fringe having a white streak. He was wearing a blue shirt and a darker blue hoodie, with black trainers and dark blue jeans with a belt with a grey loop on the side. His most noticeable features were the inverted Ankh necklace dangling from his neck, and the dark blue beanie hat on his head with a grey badge in the shape of a frowny face.

He smirked.

This was Hideyoshi Tsuchiya, Katsumi’s closest friend for as long as she could remember.

Or as she liked to call him…

“Hide!” She puffed her cheeks out and put her hands on her hips, tapping her foot on the ground in faux impatience. “You’re late!”

“Jeeeeez…” He sighed. “I’m at the bottom of this academy’s food chain as it is, can’t you cut me some slack?”

She tutted with a smirk. “The least you could’ve done is actually wear the Reserve Course uniform.”

“Me? In a suit and tie? Pff, please!” He scoffed. “You wouldn’t even see me dead in _that!_ ”

The two of them burst out laughing.

The casual ribbing was fun, but they still had a term to start.

When Katsumi turned back to the gates, she couldn’t deny she was uneasy.

Hide sensed this. “Something up?”

“Mm, I dunno…” She mumbled. “I guess I am a little nervous…”

“Well at least you have an actual Ultimate Talent.”

“You still got in!”

“Because mom and dad _paid_ me to get in. It’s kinda different.” He put his hand behind his head and sighed. “Willing to bet the entire Ultimate course is gonna look down on me. What a pain…”

Katsumi frowned, but smiled a little to try and cheer her friend up.

“Well at least you got me.” She playfully shoved him with her shoulder. “How’s that?”

He chuckled. “Heh…Guess that can work out.”

Katsumi laughed a little, before turning her attention back to the academy building behind the gates.

What’s going to await her once she steps into the academy halls?

Her future was standing right in front of her.

She couldn’t deny that. Not anymore.

“…Sooooooo, you gonna actually go in, or you just gonna stand here the whole day?” Hide quipped.

Katsumi stopped. “Huh?”

Hide grinned playfully, before tagging her shoulder and sprinting off through the gates. “Race you there!”

“Wh- hey!” Katsumi started after him. “Hide, get back here!”

Katsumi was too far away to catch him, as he was already nearing the door when she was just starting to cross through the gates.

However, just as she crossed into the academy grounds, a wave of nausea suddenly hit her and made her sick to her stomach.

[ **{BGM}** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vivj47uh_yc)

“W- huh…!?”

Katsumi doubled over in pain as her body started to feel heavier and heavier.

“W…What’s happening…To…”

She looked up.

Hide obviously hadn’t seen what was going on, as he had already gotten to and opened the door.

With her last remaining strength, Katsumi reached out.

“…H-hey...Hi…De…Wait…”

She collapsed to the floor and everything went black.

_..._

“Hey, Kat? Are you okay? Wake up!”

…

… _Huh…?_

“You can hear me, right? Can you hear me?”

…… _Hide…Is that…?_

“Stop messing around, Kat! Answer me!”

…

“Nn…”

After what felt like hours of total darkness and her head spinning, Katsumi forced her eyes open.

The image was blurry at first, but just as she suspected, Hide was above her, trying to wake her up.

He flinched a little when he saw that she was awake. “Kat…?”

“Uuuugh…” She moaned, pushing herself up and putting her hand to her head.

“Oh thank god…” Hide breathed a sigh of relief. “I thought I lost you there.”

“What’s…Going on…?” Katsumi questioned, looking around the area as her vision shifted in and out of focus. “Is…This the academy?”

“Doesn’t look like it. I blacked out as soon as I walked through the door.”

“You blacked out too!?”

“Yeah. This is super weird, Kat.”

When Katsumi’s vision finally got into focus and she realised where they were, she couldn’t agree more.

They appeared to be…In a waiting area for a theme park ride?

Katsumi rubbed her eyes.

No, she wasn’t dreaming or hallucinating. This was DEFINITELY a waiting area for a theme park ride.

The walls were painted a dark navy, with an electric blue bolt pattern circling around the diameter of the walls. There were barriers set around where people would queue up, except she couldn’t see a ride of any kind to queue for.

Where Katsumi was lying when Hide woke her up was an uncomfortable set of plastic chairs attached to a wall at the back.

She shifted herself off the chairs and into an upright standing position, internally cursing the resulting back pain from lying on uncomfortable plastic.

“How the heck did we end up here? We were literally just walking through the academy gates earlier!”

“God knows.” Hide said with a shrug. “We’re here now, I guess.”

Katsumi hummed thoughtfully. “You reckon it’s some kind of field trip?”

“A field trip? On the first day?”

“I don’t know, it’s my best guess!”

Hide hummed. “Well I guess that would make sense considering where we are…Or at least where I think we are.”

“Huh?”

“You know how Hope’s Peak sponsored a theme park that was created recently?”

Katsumi nodded. “Yeah, it was on the news. Miracle Funland, I think. You reckon we’re there?”

Hide shrugged with a slight smirk. “I mean if Hope’s Peak were to take you on a field trip, where better than somewhere they sponsored themselves?”

“Heh…I guess that’s true…Do you reckon there’s other people here?”

“Of course.” Hide stood back up. “Why have a field trip if you’re not gonna take all the class?”

“What, have you met everyone already?”

He shrugged. “I guess…”

“Then that’s my next mission!” Katsumi leapt up, pointing her finger in the air heroically. “I have to find everyone and introduce myself!”

Hide chuckled. “That’s the spirit.”

“Now!” She pointed towards the opening leading outside. “To adventure!”

Pause.

“…Uh…?” Hide started.

“Yeah I have no idea what direction adventure is, can you give me a hand?”

He smirked. “Of course.”

The two of them walked out the door.

Katsumi couldn’t help but gasp when she saw what was outside.

**[{BGM}](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLl58_nR45g) **

She had briefly seen glimpses of Miracle Funland on the news and on adverts on TV, but she never could have imagined being there in person. The pavement was made up of neat brickwork, and small flower patches were dotted here and there with many colourful flowers. Dotted along the pavement were poles holding up streetlamps and speakers, with cheery music playing out of them.

Katsumi could see different rides and attractions off in the distance, including a waterpark and a ferris wheel.

A large hotel area was also visible where guests could stay overnight. The outside was decorated like a mansion and you could tell the interior was fancy just from looking at it.

However the centrepiece of Miracle Funland was the massive castle in the centre of the park. It had red accents, but one half was white and the other was black.

“This is…AMAZING!!!” Katsumi exclaimed. “This is so much better than all the commercials!”

“Uh…” Hide raised a skeptical eyebrow. “You have no idea how you got here, remember? I don’t think you should be excited.”

“Don’t be a downer, Hide! We’re at a theme park! Isn’t that awesome?”

“I guess, but isn’t it weird how you ended up here without knowing how?”

“A-” Katsumi started, but stopped.

“…Hmmm…I guess that _is_ weird…”

“See? You were just going through the academy gates, blacked out, and now you’re here. Shouldn’t that be the part you’re focusing on?”

“Mmmm…I guess…”

Her face snapped right back to a peppy grin.

“But we’ll get to that later! We have people to meet!” She ran off in the general direction of the black and white castle off in the distance.

Hide rolled his eyes with a slight smirk. “Ever the optimist, Kat…”

Katsumi soon arrived at some kind of town square area nearby the castle. The pavement was in a crossroads like formation leading to different areas of the park, and a nearby garden displayed an arrangement of flowers in pink and red colours.

There was also someone there.

A tall girl with an impressive figure – and, ahem, _prized assets –_ was looking up at the castle. She had long and bouncy lilac hair, with a purple cap that had a pink heart decoration. She was wearing a grey trenchcoat with a purple belt tied in a bow, over a pink v-neck over a grey shirt. A pen and notepad were sticking out of her right pocket, and she also wore grey trousers and purple shoes.

Katsumi stopped.

This girl looked familiar, but she just couldn’t quite put her finger on it…

She turned around when she heard Katsumi approaching, and her violet eyes widened as a smile spread across her face.

“Someone new!” She exclaimed as she ran over, whipping out her pen and notepad in the process.

“Uh, what-?” Katsumi stammered.

“I’ve already traded names and talents with everyone else, I haven’t met you before! So tell me everything!”

“Whoa, whoa! Slow down!” Katsumi waved her hands around to get the excitable girl to wait. “I only woke up a few minutes ago!”

The girl blinked a few times, before laughing and putting the pen and notepad back in her pocket.

“Oh, sorry! I can get kinda enthusiastic about introductions.”

“I can see that…”

“Anyway, what’s your name?”

“Katsumi Akira. I’m the Ultimate Rhythm Game master.”

“Ooooh, sweet! That’s a pretty awesome talent!”

“Thanks! What about you, miss…?”

“Hotaru Tachibana!” She posed, pumping her fist a little. “Ultimate Detective, at your service!”

Katsumi’s eyes widened in shock.

She finally realised what she recognised her from.

“Wait, hold on!”

“Eh?”

“YOU’RE Hotaru Tachibana!? As in the independent teen detective that even the police are jealous of!? As in the independent teen detective that learned all she knows from murder mystery novels!? _THAT_ HOTARU TACHIBANA!?”

Hotaru nodded with a smile. “Yep! Right here!”

Katsumi couldn’t believe it.

She had heard about Hotaru Tachibana all over the news; some rookie girl who loved murder mysteries, that rose through the ranks and became an independent detective that the police envied with a passion. There were reports about murders she’d solved, criminals she’d put behind bars, and even daytime talk show chats about how she was a positive influence for young girls everywhere.

Not unlike a similar lilac-haired detective from a long time back, as some critics pointed out. But not like she cared.

Katsumi still couldn’t believe that she was standing in front of what was essentially a minor celebrity.

Said minor celebrity reached into her other pocket and took out some kind of wrapped sweet. She unwrapped it, popped it in her mouth and chewed with a smile on her face.

“Mmmm, delicious~!”

She noticed Katsumi was still there.

“Oh! I always keep some on me. I guess you could say I’ve been diagnosed with a chronic case of sweet tooth.” She chuckled, taking one more out and offering it to her. “Want one?”

Katsumi was snapped out of her slight trance and took the offer.

“O-oh! Thank you so much!” She unwrapped it and put it in her mouth.

It was a delicious cherry flavour on it’s own, but the fact that she was given it by a famous detective made it taste even better.

“I know, right?”

Katsumi nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Hide’s voice close to her ear.

The boy in question laughed, taking a few steps back. “Wow! Certainly caught you by surprise, huh Kat?”

Katsumi was about to snap at him for scaring her when Hotaru started talking again.

“Sooo, I assume you haven’t met everyone yet, huh?”

“Wha? Oh, no. I only got up pretty recently.” She pointed towards Hide. “He has, though!”

Hotaru quickly glanced to where Hide was. “…Uh-huh.”

“So where is everyone?” Katsumi continued. “And more importantly…”

She half-smirked mischievously, like a preteen girl asking about a friend’s crush at a sleepover.

“ _Are there any cute guys~?_ ”

“Kat, please.” Hide cut in with a deadpan stare.

Katsumi shot him a glare with a pout for good measure.

“Well,” Hotaru started, getting her attention again. “The other 13 are scattered throughout the park.”

“13!?” Katsumi exclaimed. “That makes 16! That’s so much more than I thought!”

“…Sure. But you’ll have to search for them, ‘cause they ‘prolly wandered a bit. I mean, you might run into some of them if you’re lucky. And to answer your question…”

She half-smirked mischievously in return.

“ _There are quite a few._ ”

Katsumi’s eyes lit up, while Hide rolled his eyes and muttered what sounded like “yare-yare daze” under his breath.

“I gotta meet all of them!”

“Oh yeah,” Hotaru agreed. “There are quite a few… _Interesting_ characters.”

“Well they’re Ultimates.” Hide quipped with a shrug. “No doubt they’re interesting.”

“I know they’ve wandered, but do you have any idea where they are?” Katsumi asked.

“Hmm…” Hotaru pulled out her notepad and started flicking through it.

“Oh, you don’t need to tell me their names. I’ll be introducing myself anyway.”

“…Fair point. Well,” Hotaru started pointing in various directions. “The fighter agent went _that_ way, the mascot went _that_ way, the cheerleader and the dancer went _that_ way, the roleplayer went _that_ way, I’m pretty sure this term’s Ultimate Lucky Student went over _there_ …”

Katsumi zoned out when Hotaru listed the first couple of directions. However, she got excited after hearing some of the talents the students had.

An Ultimate Cheerleader?

An Ultimate Roleplayer?

An Ultimate MASCOT!?

She had to meet these cool sounding people right away!

That’s why Katsumi ended up running off in a random direction before Hotaru even finished her sentence.

“Wh- hey!” Hotaru started. “I wasn’t-!” She sighed. “Oh, well. Have fun, Katsumi!”

“Thank you!” She called out back before continuing her sprint.

The point where she collided into someone at full speed was when Katsumi realised that running off in a random direction probably wasn’t such a good idea.

“GAH-!” The two of them fell down onto the pavement.

“Uuugh…” Katsumi shook her head a little. “Ow…”

She looked up to survey the area.

She had ended up on some kind of main street area, with different colourful stalls selling street snacks dotted around.

She could just see someone nearby one of the stalls, and made a mental note to talk to them later.

She also noticed someone on the ground in front of her.

That someone had very pale skin and silver coloured eyes, and a pair of snakebite piercings below their lower lip. They had messy white hair that draped a little over their shoulders. They were wearing a grey shirt with a rainbow coloured beat frequency pattern under a black hoodie (the hood of which they were fixing and pulling back up) with the sleeves rolled up to show off the swirling tattoos across their arms. They were also wearing a pair of faded blue fingerless gloves, with a lighter blue bandanna tied just below their left wrist. Their torn denim shorts were secured with a silver studded belt, just above a pair of mismatching stockings – the right a transparent black, and a longer black and white striped pattern on the left – and a pair of sky-blue shoes that almost looked like ballet shoes.

“Ngh…” They groaned as they fixed their hood and rubbed their forehead.

Katsumi’s eyes widened a little in wonder.

This person was… _Very_ attractive. Unfairly so.

It was at this point that she realised that this very attractive person was the person she had literally just ran into.

Her eyes widened in panic. “O-oh my god! I’m so sorry!”

“No no, it’s fine.” They replied, waving her concerns off. “You didn’t see me, that’s all.” They pushed themself up, offering Katsumi a hand. “You’re an Ultimate too, right?”

“U-uh…” She babbled, before taking the stranger’s hand. “Yeah. I am.”

(sure, she was heteroromantic, but she knew when someone was hot.)

She brushed herself off. “Katsumi Akira. Ultimate Rhythm Game Master.” She offered her hand, this time for a handshake. “And you are?”

They smirked as they took the offer.

“Naoki Sato. Ultimate Dancer.”

“Nice to meet you! And uh,” She rested her hand behind her head. “Do you mind if I ask for your pronouns? I don’t really wanna assume anything.”

“It’s alright. My pronouns are they/them. It’s a lot better when people ask anyway rather than just assuming…”

“Okay, good. Uh…Sorry again about running into you…”

“Hey hey, it’s fine. You did seem in quite a hurry, though.”

“Oh, I was just…Excited to meet new people I guess.”

“Well you’ve found me.” Naoki quipped with a chuckle. “So, what’s up?”

“Uh…Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

They raised an eyebrow. “Do _you?_ ”

Katsumi shrugged. “No.”

“Then we’re both in the same boat here.” Naoki put their hand on their hip and looked off to the distance.

“That’s a pain…You reckon anyone has any idea?”

“Who’s to say? I mean, a bunch of Ultimates starting a term at Hope’s Peak wake up in an unfamiliar location. Who knows what’s going on.”

“What if it’s a field trip?” Katsumi suggested. “Hope’s Peak sponsored this place after all.”

Naoki deadpanned her. “Really weird way of getting us there.”

“…Okay, I guess you’re right…” Katsumi laughed a little. “Well it was nice meeting you.”

“Same here.” Naoki replied as they started to walk off.

Katsumi smiled.

_They seem nice. I just hope they aren’t too mad at me for running into them…_

“Uh, when Hotaru said ‘you might run into some of them’,” Hide quipped from behind her. “I don’t think she meant it _literally._ ”

“Shut up!” Katsumi snapped as she brushed herself off again. “It was an accident! I didn’t see them there!”

Hide chuckled, before nodding in the direction the Ultimate Dancer was leaving in. “So you met Naoki, huh?”

“Yeah. They seem nice. That title must have been hard to get.”

Hide shrugged. “It’s not too different from what you do, Kat.”

“It kinda is! Mine’s is just hitting something in time with the music! They’re an actual _dancer_!”

“Which in it’s simplest form is stepping in time with the music.”

“It’s a lot more than that!”

“Yeah yeah, whatever. But it seems like you two hit it off.”

“I hope so…” Katsumi winced. “I _did_ kinda run into them…”

Hide smirked. “Please, what’s a collision between new friends? It’s nothing.”

Katsumi chuckled. “Alright, alright…”

She remembered the person she saw earlier before she started talking to Naoki. She looked back over, seeing that they were still around that area.

“Oh, who’s that over there?” She asked, pointing.

Hide leaned forward a little, squinting his eyes to focus. “Hmmm…Can’t really tell from back here.”

“All the more reason to go over!”

“…Wasn’t that what you were gonna do anyway?”

“Yes, but still!”

“Jeeeeez…” He sighed. “Why’re so so amped up to meet these people anyway? They’re complete strangers, y’know. Besides, shouldn’t you be focusing on, oh I don’t know, how the hell you got here?”

“Think about it, Hide!” Katsumi chimed, practically pulling down an imaginary graph to explain it to him. “You heard the talents Hotaru listed off, right? And besides, they’re Ultimate students! The best of the best! Becoming friends with them is the best way to climb the popularity ladder! And if I become friends with the _famous detective Hotaru Tachibana,_ I’ll be able to climb it like ten times faster!”

Hide raised an eyebrow. “So what, you’re becoming friends with them just for the sake of becoming popular?”

“Wh- no! I…” Katsumi stammered, before pouting and pressing her forefingers together. “…Well when you put it like _that…_ ”

Hide laughed to himself. “Don’t worry Kat, I won’t tell anyone~”

A flustered blush spread across her face. “Sh-shut up!” She spun around and started walking. “Let’s just meet this guy already…”

**[{BGM}](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMgBrowmOog) **

There were a number of stalls going down the street area which, befitting the theme park environment, were selling a number of snacks despite the very visible lack of staff.

The person Katsumi wanted to find was nearby one of these stalls and standing under the shade of a nearby building; he had very evidently visited one of them too, as he was holding a small box of what appeared to be takoyaki.

He had a small body frame and very short spiky brown hair, but his eyes were covered with a dark pair of sunglasses. He was wearing a black suit with the jacket unbuttoned – _how is he not boiling right now?_ Katsumi thought – with a black tie and dark shoes. The collar of the jacket had a blue logo of some kind embroidered on it, which Katsumi recognised from somewhere. A holster was clipped to his belt, and in that holster was…

… _Holy crap, is that a GUN!?_

Katsumi didn’t have enough time to take in the fact that this complete stranger was carrying a gun as he had evidently noticed her.

“Hm?”

_OH CRAP HE NOTICED ME. Did he see me staring!? Act natural, act natural…!_

“…Can I…Help you?” He asked.

“U-uh…” Katsumi started.

“He saw you staring.” Hide quipped.

Katsumi flashed him a glare.

“Hold on,” The boy started, walking out of the shade to address her properly. “Do I know you?”

“What? Um, no I…Don’t think we know each other, hehe…”

Hide raised an eyebrow. “Yep, he _definitely_ saw you staring.”

Katsumi was about to tell him to back off when the boy spoke up again.

“Then I assume it would be best if we introduced ourselves, correct?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.” She offered him a handshake. “I’m Katsumi Akira, the Ultimate Rhythm Game Master. You’re an Ultimate too, right?”

The boy looked at her hand for a few seconds, perplexed, but eventually shook it with his free hand.

“…Yes. I’m Daisuke Ito, the Ultimate Fighter Agent.”

_A fighter agent?_ Katsumi thought. _I think Hotaru brought one up earlier._

… _And I guess that kinda explains the…Uh…The…_

Daisuke noticed her staring at the gun again.

Hide evidently noticed this too. “Kat, stop staring at the gun.”

Katsumi released Daisuke’s hand and jumped back.

“Ah! I, uh, I’m sorry I-”

“Yeah yeah, I get it a lot…” He sighed, tapping against the holster with his free hand. “It’s just that in my field of work, you never know when someone can attack you. You always have to be armed.”

Katsumi nodded, starting to understand a little, but the gun still made her feel uneasy.

She decided it would be best to change the subject before things got too awkward.

She cleared her throat. “Well, uh, I, um…” She pointed to the box in his hand. “Is that, uh, is that takoyaki?”

“Smooth.” Hide quipped, prompting Katsumi to shoot him a glare.

“Hm?” Daisuke lifted the box back up. “…Yes.”

He opened it up to show her. And sure enough, there were seven (there was space for an eighth, but he had evidently already had one) neatly formed freshly made takoyaki balls, each covered with a slight drizzle of okonomiyaki sauce and bonito flakes. The box even provided a pair of chopsticks to eat them with.

“Octopus and tenkatsu filling to be precise. Why, do you want one or something?”

It was at this point that Katsumi realised her mouth was watering just from looking at them.

“Wh- no! I-” She rubbed her mouth. “I was just wondering where you got them.”

Daisuke pointed to one of the stalls. “Over there.”

Sure enough, the stall he was pointing to was advertising different kinds of takoyaki. There was even a cute decal of an octopus holding a pair of chopsticks and winking.

_Wait, wouldn’t that be cannibalism-_

_No that’s not the point._

“Wait, but how? There’s no-one at the stall!”

“It was a push-button thing. You pressed whatever you wanted and the box came out of the dispenser. And it’s pretty good for something that comes out of a machine.”

Katsumi raised their eyebrows. “…Huh…” She put a hand to her chin. “I guess they did mention they had those in some of the ads for this place.”

“They _definitely_ mentioned it in some of the ads.” Hide seconded.

“Did they?” Daisuke asked, perplexed.

“They did.” Katsumi replied. “What, did you not see them?”

“……No?”

“Huh!? How!?”

Daisuke sighed, toying with one of the takoyaki balls with his chopsticks. “I don’t really watch TV.”

“Huh…”

Hide shrugged. “I mean, the dude _is_ an agent. He’s probably on missions a lot.”

“Maybe…”

Katsumi wasn’t quite sure what being a fighter agent was exactly. She had seen agents in movies and figured that they were specialists enlisted by some kind of agency to do things.

So what, was Daisuke trained specifically in combat?

If so, then that would definitely explain-

Katsumi stopped herself before her gaze drifted back to the gun.

Sure, he had a reason for carrying it, but it still freaked her out that a highschooler her age was casually carrying a potentially lethal weapon on their belt.

Daisuke sighed.

“…Look, do you want one or not?”

Katsumi snapped out of her daze. “Huh? What?”

He pointed to the takoyaki with one of the chopsticks. “You’ve been staring at them for the past minute. Do you want one or what?”

 _Was I?_ Katsumi thought, her gaze turning back down to the box again.

Her mouth watered a little again.

… _Okay, I guess I do want one-_

Before she could finish that thought, Daisuke – likely after an eye roll from under his sunglasses – had already taken one and stuffed it into Katsumi’s mouth.

“Mmf-!”

Katsumi was definitely taken by surprise – a complete stranger had stuffed a takoyaki ball into her mouth, after all. Sure she _did_ kinda want one, but this-

She immediately changed her tune once she bit down.

Katsumi was never really one for octopus takoyaki – sure, tenkatsu was fine, but octopus suckers can make her feel icky – but this time it was _delicious._ Whatever spices or flavours had been used in making this were just right, and mixed with the batter, bonito flakes and okonomiyaki sauce, it all came together in perfect harmony.

“Satisfied?” Daisuke quipped with a raised eyebrow.

Katsumi remembered she still had someone to talk to and quickly chewed the rest of the takoyaki ball and swallowed before answering.

“Y-yeah, thanks.”

He sighed. “Okay, let me just get straight to the point. Do you have any idea why we’re here?”

Katsumi stopped.

“Huh? I was…Gonna ask you the same question.”

He tutted. “Alright, guess we’re all in the same boat then…”

“What? What makes you think that?”

“Based on you, everyone I’ve talked to and my own experience, the Ultimate Students here have all passed out at the academy gates and woken up somewhere in this park. Am I wrong?”

Katsumi froze, blinking a few times. Daisuke had listed off everything that happened to her right to the letter.

“…Well…Maybe that’s just a coincidence?”

Daisuke hummed thoughtfully. “I’m not too sure…This is way too weird to be a coincidence. Like, why would we wake up _here_ of all places?”

“Uuuuuhhh………Maybe it’s a field trip? Hope’s Peak sponsored this place!”

Hide narrowed his eyes uneasily. “I don’t think it’s a field trip.”

“Yeah, no.” Daisuke said. “If this was a field trip, we would’ve gotten a bus or a plane here. But that isn’t the case. We all blacked out as soon as we took a step through the academy gate and woke up here.”

Katsumi frowned uneasily. “…Okay, I guess you’re right…But what else COULD this be?”

“That’s our next question.” Daisuke answered, toying with one of the remaining takoyaki with his chopsticks. “All we know is that we were meant to be starting our first term at Hope’s Peak, and we suddenly wake up here, possibly MILES away from the academy.” He frowned uneasily. “This…Isn’t right…”

Katsumi grimaced. Sure, Daisuke seemed nice, but what he was saying now was freaking her out…

She had to find some kinda way out of this!

Luckily, that way out soon presented herself.

“Heeeeeey!”

“Huh?” Katsumi turned around to see Hotaru practically bounding towards her.

“Jeez, I finally found you!” She said as she finally caught up. “Good thing Naoki said which way you went. Wandering by myself got pretty boring!”

“You were looking for me? And, uh…Did they mention that-?”

“You introduced yourself by running into them at full speed? Yes. They did.”

Katsumi blushed and turned her gaze to the ground.

“Ah, Hotaru. It’s good to see you gain.” Daisuke greeted with a nod.

“Nice to see you too!” Hotaru said with a smile. “You’ve already said hi to the others, right?”

“I have. I had just introduced myself to Katsumi when you arrived.”

The detective turned to Katsumi with a sickly sweet smile.“D’awww, you’re making new friends already~!” She cooed, likely impersonating a doting mother.

Katsumi blushed even more. “S-stop it!”

Hotaru giggled. “Sorry, I needed to!”

“…Riiiiight…” Hide said, completely deadpan.

“So have you only met Naoki and Daisuke so far?” Hotaru quizzed.

“Yeah. Not really that much off of 16, right?”

“16?” Daisuke asked.

“Yeah. Counting Hide and I, the total student number is 16.”

“…Uh-huh…”

“Anyway, do you know where I can find anyone else?”

Daisuke hummed to himself. “Well…There’s an area with a fountain not too far away in this direction.” He pointed. “I saw a few people hanging around there.”

“Great!” Hotaru chimed. “Now we have a direction to go!”

“Thanks for the help, Daisuke!” Katsumi said with a smile.

Daisuke stiffened, and turned his gaze away. “…Don’t worry about it.”

“Allllright! Let’s go!” Hotaru practically sang as she lead the way.

“C’mon, Hide!” Katsumi called out before following. “Let’s get moving!”

Hide rolled his eyes before running after her. “Alright, alright…”

Once all of them had gone a sufficient enough distance, Daisuke sighed to himself and pressed two fingers to the side of his sunglasses.

**[{BGM}](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7rlos2PiRQ) **

He waited a few seconds, but then gritted his teeth in annoyance.

“…Ugh, why won’t you just pick up already…!?” He steadied himself and cleared his throat.

“…Hey. You’re probably not even getting this, are you? I mean, I know they said you’d be on an away mission for a few months, but…Alright, I’ll just cut to the chase.”

He took a deep breath.

“As soon as I arrived at HPA’s gates, I suddenly blacked out and woke up at some theme park they’re apparently sponsoring. I don’t have any injuries, so I couldn’t have been hit with a dart or a syringe or anything like that. My current guess is some kind of airborne toxin, but that’s not what’s important.

What’s important is that _there’s more of us here._

More Ultimate Students with the exact same experience as mine. All of them arrived at the gates, blacked out and ended up here. No outliers whatsoever.

I have no idea what’s going on, but…”

He frowned uneasily.

“… _This is sounding really familiar, if you know what I mean…_

Look, I know there’s no way that’s possible. I mean, she’s been a bloody mess for at least a decade! Her followers are all either rehabilitated or dead! She has LITERALLY NO INFLUENCE ANYMORE!…But going from what I know right now…”

Daisuke sighed.

“Oh what’s the point, you’re not even listening to this…

Just…Call me as soon as you get this, Usagi. Please.”

He tapped the side of his sunglasses again.

He grimaced to himself, but then shook his head and walked off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wait who the hell is Usagi-
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of Danganronpa: Hope's Chains!  
> Next chapter hopefully won't be too long but knowing my nonexistent update schedule Idk
> 
> Thank you for reading to the end! I really hope you guys enjoy this! <3


	2. Hello, Ultimate Students?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Katsumi, Hotaru and Hide look around some more, Katsumi meets the rest of her class.  
> However, something feels off. But nothing bad can happen in a theme park, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HHHHHHHH IT'S FINALLY DONE  
> I'm sorry for such a long wait (these chapters will probably take longer anyway because of illustrations), coursework and uni things and other stuff got in the way for a while, but it's finally here!  
> We finally meet the rest of the cast! ^v^

[{BGM}](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSzbgoaKKDc)

“Are you SURE this is the way Daisuke said to go?” Katsumi asked as she followed Hotaru.

“Positive! I was there when he pointed it out!” Hotaru replied.

Hide shrugged. “Detectives need to have a good sense of direction, you know.”

“Okay I guess you’re right…” Katsumi said. “Speaking of, you sure he’s gonna be okay on his own?”

Hotaru shrugged. “Probably? He seemed like a lone wolf kinda guy to me. If not he could always find someone to talk to.”

“Like I said earlier, the dude’s an agent.” Hide added. “Solo missions are a pretty big thing last I checked. He’ll be fine on his own.”

“Right, so…What’re the other students like?” Katsumi asked. “I mean, you met them.”

“Well I kinda said last time. There are quite a few interesting characters in there.” Hotaru explained. “You already met Naoki and Daisuke. They’re probably the more normal ones…” She added with a chuckle.

“I dunno whether that’s a good sign or a bad sign…” Katsumi sighed. “Well, it’ll mean more interesting people to talk to over this next semester and oh my gOD IS THAT A _CAT!?!?_ ”

Hotaru stopped walking. “Huh?”

“Oh no.” Hide said.

Before either of them could react Katsumi had already sprinted off.

Hotaru groaned. “Why does she have to run so fast…!?” She whined before starting after her.

Katsumi had finally slowed down – not colliding with anyone this time, thank god for that – at some kind of boardwalk area with a dark coloured building next to it with neon lights.

It was nearby some kind of area coloured in pastel colours, which from what Katsumi could see had a more cutesy vibe, with colourful balloons, confetti, rainbows and a cotton candy machine on practically every corner. The centrepiece of this area was a merry go round, which Katsumi could barely see.

Mainly because the archway leading into the area – coloured in candy pastels with lettering reading “RAINBOW SPARKLE LAND”– had been completely blocked off with a locked gate.

That wasn’t really important.

As it turns out that Katsumi’s eyes somehow _hadn’t_ deceived her, and there was in fact a giant white cat standing in front of the gate.

“Awww, this place is closed!” Katsumi could hear them whine. “It looked really fun, Pyuko wanted to go iiinnn!”

“Ugh yeah I know,” She agreed. “This place looks great!”

“Huh?” The cat perked up, turning around to face the new arrival.

Katsumi could see that this was in fact an intricately crafted mascot costume. It had a simple face design – which on closer inspection was made up of an LED screen – with two black eyes, a catlike mouth and sets of blush lines on either side of the face. It was wearing a long green top with short sleeves and gold embellishment with a golden bell design, a pair of green trainers, and a golden bell around it's neck.

Their “face” lit up in joy.

“New friend???” They exclaimed. Their voice sounded cutesy, despite evidently being put through multiple filters. It almost sounded like one of those singing computer programs that were popular online.

“I hope to be!” Katsumi quipped with a chuckle. “Are you an Ultimate Student too?”

“Uh-huh! Pyuko’s name is Pyuko, and Pyuko is the Ultimate Mascot!”

_That was easy to guess._ Katsumi thought.

“My name is Katsumi Akira. I’m the Ultimate Rhythm Game Master.”

“So nice to meet you, Katsumi-chan!” Pyuko chimed with a smile.

“Nice to meet you too! So,” She turned her gaze back to the gate. “You reckon they’re gonna open that?”

Pyuko shook their head. “Pyuko doesn’t know. Pyuko wanted to ask the theme park staff if they could open the gate, but Pyuko couldn’t find anyone.”

Katsumi stopped. “No-one? You couldn’t find any staff?”

“Nuh-uh. The ads they had for this place said there’d always be someone nearby to help you, but Pyuko couldn’t find anyone, and Pyuko searched this area high and low.”

_There’s no staff here?_

_Come to think of it I haven’t seen anyone since Hide woke me up…_

_That’s really weird…_

Her train of thought was stopped when she heard footsteps behind her, alerting her to the fact that Hotaru had caught up with her.

“Jeez…!” She panted. “Why do you have to run so fast, Katsumi…!?”

“Well some rhythm games take a lot of quick footwork!” Katsumi replied, puffing out her chest pridefully. “ _AND_ I took track and field!”

A nearby Hide raised an eyebrow skeptically. “You totally didn’t take track and field.”

Katsumi’s prideful mood deflated. “…Okay, I totally didn’t take track and field…But my first point still stands.”

“Wow, Katsumi-chan must be really athletic!” Pyuko chimed.

“Awww, thank you!”

“Doesn’t help when I’m trying to chase you!” Hotaru whined, before turning her attention to the Ultimate Mascot. “…Hi again, by the way.”

Pyuko waved. “Hi Hotaru-chan!”

“Any luck finding any staff to open that gate?”

They shook their head. “None yet. Pyuko was just telling Katsumi-chan about it.”

“Yeah,” Katsumi added. “And I also realised that I hadn’t seen any staff after Hide woke me up, even though all the ads say that there’s plenty of staff to help with anything.”

“…Come to think of it, I haven’t seen any staff either…” Hotaru slowly put her hand to her chin. “…Weird…”

“That’s gotta mean something, right?” Hide said.

Katsumi nodded. “Right.”

“Could Hotaru-chan do detective stuff to find out what’s going on?” Pyuko asked.

“Detective stuff can only go so far without much evidence.” Hotaru explained. “And there’s no evidence that I know of. I mean, not even any staff uniforms or break areas anywhere. It’s like they either vanished without a trace or were never here in the first place.” She shrugged. “…Both of which are impossible.”

“Actually…” Hide turned to Katsumi. “Come to think of it, did this place ever actually open to the public before we got here?”

Katsumi’s eyes widened. “That’s it!”

Hotaru stopped. “Huh?”

“Miracle Funland was never actually officially opened to the public! They just played the ads for this place, last I remember. That could explain why there aren’t any staff here!”

Hotaru put a hand to her chin. “…That’s actually pretty sound reasoning. Good thinking.”

She chuckled awkwardly. “…Well it wasn’t really my idea but-”

“But if this park wasn’t opened to the public,” Pyuko pointed out. “How’d we get here?”

Everyone went silent.

“…That’s actually a really good point.” Hotaru said.

“Yeah! There isn’t much point in the academy sending us to a theme park that hasn’t been officially opened yet, is there? At least that’s what Pyuko thinks.”

“I agree. If this park was never officially opened, it’d explain why there isn’t any staff. But it doesn’t explain why Hope’s Peak sent us here.”

“This is just getting way too confusing…” Pyuko sighed, resigned.

“Well we shouldn’t think about that, right?” Katsumi said.

Hide raised an eyebrow. “Uh, we kinda should?”

“I don’t think we should. I mean, we can’t understand it right now, right? So there isn’t really much point in trying to think about it. So, if this is a school trip, a teacher or something is bound to show up, right?”

“But Pyuko searched everywhere!” Pyuko said. “Pyuko couldn’t find any staff, but Pyuko couldn’t find any other adults either!”

“Maybe they’ll show up soon. Hopefully.”

“You’re riding a lot of this on ‘hopefully’.” Hotaru pointed out skeptically.

Katsumi shrugged.

“Yeah, I know hope isn’t really a good thing to ride this on. But there’s not really another option.”

“Katsumi-chan kinda has a point.” Pyuko said.

“Alright,” Hotaru sighed. “Now can we please go to where Daisuke pointed us to?”

“Oh, right!” Katsumi said. She turned to Pyuko. “It was nice to meet you I guess.”

“Nice to meet you too, Katsumi-chan!” Pyuko said cheerily.

“Okay,” Katsumi started. “So which way is it-”

She was stopped by faint noise from the nearby building.

Noise that kind-of sounded like an arcade game.

Hide brought a hand to his forehead and sighed. “Aaand she’s distracted again…”

Katsumi pointed to the building. “…Is that an arcade?”

“Yeah, Pyuko checked it out earlier.” Pyuko replied.

“Okay, that’s an arcade.” Hotaru said. “Can we PLEASE continue-”

Katsumi was already going inside.

Hotaru groaned. “Oh for the love of…” She started to follow her in.

[{BGM}](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hirdkEEvw_k)

The interior of the building wasn’t too dissimilar from a boardwalk arcade; dark colouring with the occasional neon lights, arcade cabinets and various game machines, a prize counter – the usual drill.

Katsumi’s eyes lit up when she noticed a dance game.

Perfect! The best thing to get rid of her worries with!

“Hey, you finally found your calling.” Hide quipped.

“I know!” Katsumi said with an eager grin. “And it’s a new model too!”

“A new model? That sounds cool.”

“I know, right?” She started to walk towards the machine when she heard Hotaru running over.

“There you are!” She called. “This place is like a navy blue and neon maze…”

Hide raised an eyebrow. “…So laser tag.”

“Yeah, basically laser tag…” Katsumi said with an eye roll, before getting onto the game machine and starting it up.

“W- hey! You need to meet everyone, remember?”

“Relaaax, it’ll only be for a few minutes.” Katsumi replied as she scrolled through the songs.

Hotaru sighed. “…I mean, I guess there are people in here…Okay, you go do what you gotta do.” She started walking towards the door. “I’ll be outside if you need me.”

Katsumi nodded, eventually picking one of her favourite songs and starting the game.

The next part was practically child’s play for her; step on the right panels at the right time, get the high score, and have a good time.

She certainly was. As the techno beat and the “perfect!” jingles played out of the machine, her initial worries had simply been washed away.

It was no surprise she was at the top of the scoreboard.

“Damn. I think that’s a personal record for you.” Hide quipped with a smile.

“Well, I AM the Ultimate Rhythm Game Master for a reason!” Katsumi chimed, puffing out her chest with pride.

“…Huh. You’re not too bad.” Someone said from behind them.

“Huh?” Katsumi turned around and noticed someone standing a few feet away.

The person in question was a boy with russet coloured skin and similar coloured eyes. He was wearing a faded blue hoodie with a rainbow pattern, and faded jeans with a brown patch above the left knee. His footwear of choice was a pair of faded red trainers. His brown hair was tied into a short ponytail, with two fringe-like spikes sticking out of the hole in the teal coloured baseball cap he had backwards on his head, and a beige band-aid had been stuck to the side of his jaw.

But his most notable accessory was a golden necklace in the shape of a four-leaf clover hanging around his neck. It was shining almost impossibly brightly, and Katsumi’s eyes were inexplicably drawn to it for a few seconds.

She snapped her gaze away to address this stranger. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Not very,” He replied with a shrug. “I was just looking around this place and saw someone new. That’s all.”

Katsumi hopped off the dance game machine so she could talk to him. “Well…I’m Katsumi Akira, the Ultimate Rhythm Game Master. And you are…?”

“Eren Yoshida. And if we’re also exchanging talents, I’m the Ultimate Lucky Student.”

“Ultimate Lucky Student?” Katsumi echoed.

“I’m pretty sure that’s the thing where they draw a lottery of random highschool students. Whoever gets picked gets the title.” Hide explained.

“Oh, yeah! Is it that lotto thing?”

“Well yes, but actually no.” Eren replied.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Eren smirked smugly. “Watch this.”

He walked over to a nearby claw machine and started it up. The claw moved away from it’s starting place and towards the awaiting pile of stuffed animals in the middle. The control buttons for the claw lit up, and the timer started counting down.

But rather than hitting any of the buttons, Eren simply lifted his hands up and stepped away.

Katsumi looked on in confusion.

“Wait, what? Aren’t you meant to-”

“Give it a minute.”

The timer reached zero and, with a mechanical ding, the claw dived down into the pile to likely pick up nothing…

Only to pick up a blue t-rex plush and drop it out into Eren’s hand.

“Sweet, it was one of the better looking ones too!” He grinned as he admired the toy.

Katsumi’s eyes were wide in shock. “That’s…How did you DO that!? You didn’t touch any of the controls!”

Eren smirked with a smug shrug. “What can I say? That’s the power of Ultimate-level luck.”

Hide rolled his eyes. “Someone has a complex…”

Katsumi shot him a glare. “You can’t just-!” She growled under her breath. “Ugh…”

It was at this point that Eren’s necklace caught her eye again. It had an almost powerful aura about it, as if whispering to her of great power and success. It was practically begging her to lean in and take a closer look, to go in and take it right from-

Eren noticed her staring and jumped back.

“W- hey! Get away from it!” He snapped, pulling the necklace away from her.

Katsumi snapped out of her trance. “Huh…?” She shot Eren a glare. “Hey! There’s no need to be a jerk about it! It’s just a stupid necklace! I mean, it’s not like it’s...The source of your luck or anything!”

Eren rolled his eyes, ignoring her. He pulled out a cloth from his hoodie pocket and started polishing the necklace with it.

It took a few seconds for the gears to turn in Katsumi’s mind. Her eyes widened in shock when it finally clicked.

“…Oh my god it’s actually the source of your luck isn’t it.”

“Yes. As a matter of fact, it is.” He replied coldly as he continued wiping the cloth against the necklace’s surface. “But if you want it, you’re going to have to get through me first.” He put the cloth back in his pocket and shot Katsumi a glare. “ _So don’t you DARE think about stealing it._ ”

“Alright, alright! Jeez…!”

Eren sighed. “I’m leaving now.” He turned around and walked away from her. “I have better things to do…”

Katsumi was left in shock as he walked off.

“…Uh…Bye…?”

“Yep. Definitely has a complex.” Hide quipped.

“Hide, you can’t just say that!”

“What? It’s true!”

“…I mean I guess it was a dick move for him to snap like that…” She turned around. “Do you reckon there’s anyone else here?”

Hide shrugged. “Maybe try looking around? Like Hotaru said, this place is like a maze. Anyone could be anywhere.”

“It is a good idea to explore this place I guess.” She started walking off. “You coming?”

“Yeah, yeah…” Hide started after her.

It took a while of walking through rows of different game cabinets before they found someone, playing a different claw machine which contained exclusively teddy bears.

The girl playing the claw machine was pretty short, with fair skin and blue eyes. Her raven-like blue hair was tied into short pigtails with a pair of pink ribbons, as well as a pair of square red hairclips on the side of her hair. She was wearing a dark blue suit with a darker faded blue jacket and a big pink bow. She had a pink pleated skirt on her lower half, along with white stockings and pink strap shoes.

She had managed to get a pale brown teddy bear from the machine, which she received with evident delight.

“So cuute!” She pulled the teddy bear into a hug. “I’m taking you home with me after this!”

It was at this point that she noticed Katsumi behind her.

“Oh, hey!” She greeted. “Do you want a turn on this?”

“Oh no, it’s fine.” Katsumi brushed her off. “Do you like teddy bears?”

She nodded with a smile. “Of course! I love them! I mean I love other stuffed animals too, like cats and dogs and bunny rabbits. But teddy bears are the most popular for a reason, you know! It’s really great that they have so many claw machines in this arcade! I could add even more to my collection!”

“Oh, so are you like the Ultimate Plushie Collector or something?”

“Well no, stuffed animals are more of a hobby.” She chuckled awkwardly. “I picked it up when I was 10 I think and haven’t been able to stop since. Or was it 9? Maybe it was 8? Oh well, it’s just fun.”

“Cool! So what IS your talent?”

“Oh right! Still gotta introduce myself, huh? Sorry, got a bit ahead of myself there…”

“No, it’s fine! Don’t worry about it.”

“My name is Saki Miyuki. And I’m the Ultimate Prosecutor!”

“Prosecutor?” Katsumi echoed.

“Yeah, you know how in every trial of law there’s the prosecution and the defence? Well I represent the prosecution!”

Katsumi understood this, recalling a game she had seen someone play once. “Oh yeah…! That sounds pretty cool!”

“It really is! I have a lot of pride in saying that I have managed to get a lot of bad people behind bars like they deserve!” Saki said with a wink.

Her smile suddenly faded. “…Oh wait, you still need to introduce myself.” She blushed and shook her head, flustered. “I’m really sorry! My mouth goes at a mile a minute when I’m talking about stuff like prosecution and stuffed animals, I should’ve let you talk first-!”

“Nonono, it’s fine!” Katsumi brushed her concerns off. “You really love talking about stuff you’re interested in, that’s all. I actually find it kinda cute.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “C-cute!?” Saki turned her gaze to the ground and fiddled with one of the pleats on her skirt. “U-uh, thanks…”

“It’s no problem. I’m Katsumi Akira, and I’m the Ultimate Rhythm Game Master.”

“Rhythm Game Master?” Saki echoed. “You mean like that dancing machine over there?”

“Yeah, like those. But also clicker games, those mobile games with cute idol bands, and also that weird VR one with the swords. But ones like those are honestly my favourite.”

“That sounds really cool! I’m not good at rhythm games at all but they’re really fun!”

“They really are! I love playing them!”

Saki nodded with a beaming smile.

“Well,” Katsumi continued, pointing to the direction of the exit. “I’m probably gonna have to go soon, because Hotaru’s waiting for me outside and will probably blow a fuse if I take any longer.”

“Oh, you met with Hotaru?”

“Yeah, she’s really nice. Actually, have you worked with her? I mean, you work in law, so you do stuff with detectives, right?”

Saki put a finger to her chin. “Well, I have worked with more detectives than I can count, but I don’t recall Hotaru being one of them.” She shrugged. “Which is really strange given her current popularity.”

“I heard on the news she’s able to solve cases by herself.” Katsumi pointed out with a shrug. “Maybe that’s why?”

“Yeah, maybe. Well it’s best you don’t keep her waiting isn’t it?”

“Yeah. It was nice to meet you, Saki!”

Saki waved with a smile. “See you soon!”

Katsumi waved back and started to the exit.

[{BGM}](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncYEjxBw_7g)

“She seems nice.” Katsumi said.

“She is pretty polite.” Hide agreed. “I mean, you have to have good manners to work in law, right?”

“I don’t know. Remember that defence attorney game everyone in high school used to play? One of the prosecutors kept whipping everyone and another kept sicing their pet bird on the protag.” She shrugged. “…Well there is the cool one with the guitar I guess…”

Hide raised an eyebrow. “You DO realise you’re talking about fictional characters with likely exaggerated personalities, right?”

Katsumi stopped. “…Okay good point.”

They left the arcade. Pyuko had evidently left to go do something else and, as expected, Hotaru was waiting for them. She was popping another candy from her pocket into her mouth and talking to someone Katsumi didn’t recognise.

That person had pale skin and teal green short hair the same colour as their eyes under a black hat with a white rim separating the cap and visor. They were wearing a mainly white outfit – white pants and jacket – with the only exceptions being a black shirt, shoes and gloves.

Katsumi blinked a few times.

_Who’s this guy? Not gonna lie, he’s pretty cute._

The stranger turned around and waved Katsumi over.

“Hey!” They said in a notably feminine voice. “You’re Katsumi, right?”

Katsumi’s eyes widened in surprise.

… _Okay. Not a guy._

“Uh, yeah?”

“Cool, Hotaru was just telling me about you.” The girl went on as Katsumi walked over.

“By the way,” Hotaru said after swallowing her candy. “Did you meet anyone else in there?”

“Just Eren and Saki.” Katsumi said with a shrug. “They seemed nice I guess.”

The girl shrugged. “Saki IS super polite. She seems like a nice girl.”

“I guess.” Katsumi turned over to the stranger. “What about you? I don’t think we’ve met?”

“Oh, right! I’m Seira Suzuki, and I’m the Ultimate Otokoyaku.”

“Ultimate Otokoyaku?” Katsumi echoed. “What’s that?”

Seira sighed, pinching the brim of her cap.

“Ugh, I get this so much…” She muttered. “Well, you’re familiar with the Takarazuka Revue, right?”

Katsumi stared blankly.

“…I’ll take that as a no.” Seira said with a resigned expression. “Well, it’s an all-female musical theatre troupe. They put on massive shows, like full on Broadway stuff. You get what I mean?”

Katsumi nodded. “Uh-huh…?”

“Well, the musumeyaku the are actresses who play female roles, and the otokoyaku are the actresses who play male roles.”

“Ohhh…! So you play the guys in these shows?”

Seira shrugged with a chuckle. “That’s one way of putting it.”

“That actually sounds really cool! Is it hard, or…?”

“Hold on, give me a minute.”

Seira closed her eyes and cleared her throat.

She then opened her eyes almost narrowly and offered Katsumi a hand with a smirk-like smile.

“Why hello there, dear.” She spoke in a completely different, lower, more sultry voice. “I couldn’t help but notice you were alone. Why don’t you come dance with me~?”

Katsumi’s eyes widened in surprise.

This felt like a scene in a romantic shoujo anime. She could practically see the background turn pink with cherry blossoms fluttering down from the sky!

Seira chuckled. “Pretty cool, huh?” She said back in her regular voice. “I always love doing those kind of roles!”

“Whuh…!?” Katsumi snapped out of her shoujo anime trance. “T-that was so cool!”

“Well after two years of training it better be,” Seira quipped with a smirk.

Katsumi laughed.

“Alllllright,” Hotaru said, adjusting her hat. “We’d best get going. You have more people to meet, no?”

“Oh, right!” Katsumi turned to Seira. “Sorry, but we kinda need to go.”

Seira shrugged. “It’s cool. See you soon, ‘kay?”

After saying their goodbyes, the group set off again with Hotaru leading the way.

“So, what do you think of everyone so far?” Hide asked.

“Like Hotaru said, they ARE pretty interesting.” Katsumi said. “But if there are 16 of us in total, I’ve only met 7 of them. That’s not even half!”

Hide shrugged. “Fair. But if what Daisuke said still stands, you’ll be able to talk to the rest of them soon enough. Hopefully.”

“I guess.”

As they were walking along, Katsumi thought she saw a figure off to the side when she walked past, but dismissed it as a figment of her imagination.

That was soon disproved however, as said figment of her imagination suddenly turned around and pointed to her.

“You there!” They called out aggressively. “Stop where you are if you value your life!”

“Huh!?” Katsumi froze and turned around.

The figure greeting her looked…Unusual, to say the least.

It was a girl who was just shorter than her with long and messy raven-black hair and piercing red eyes. She was wearing a brown outfit similar to a wizard from a fantasy roleplaying game, with a short open skirt and red lace corset, and the outfit was finished off with a pair of black boots with ties that looked like belts with gold buckles. She was also wearing a cape that looked almost to be fashioned from crows feathers and almost looked like a pair of wings, secured with a skull-shaped clip on the front. Her most prominent accessory was a large witches hat with a menacing smile on the front, end the end capped off with a large silver bell. She was also wearing long black gloves with claws fashioned at the end of her fingers, any exposed skin was covered with green body paint, and her mouth had quite prominent fangs.

Katsumi gulped nervously.

_Who is this…? She’s definitely got the intimidation factor, that’s for sure!_

Hotaru, however, was completely calm and greeted the stranger.

“Oh, hey!” She said.

The girl’s attention was directed to the detective. “…Oh. It’s you again.”

Her voice was high pitched and almost cute, but shown by her yelling earlier she could still be powerful and threatening.

“How you doing? You still searching for a way out?”

“I’m still currently trying, but our captor is certainly quite powerful, it seems. My transportation magic didn’t seem to open anything, and none of my divination spells have worked. My current theory is some kind of antimagic barrier, but I have no confirmation for that either…” She growled under her breath.

_Spells? Antimagic barrier? What’s this chick on about?_

“Anyway,” She turned her glare back to Katsumi. “Do I need to address you again!?”

Katsumi jumped back. “Gah! S-sorry!”

“I hope I don’t need to ask you twice again,” The stranger continued as she strode towards Katsumi to point a clawed finger in her face. “Do you have any knowledge of this current situation?”

“N-no, I’m just as in the dark as you are!” Katsumi stammered, raising her hands defensively. “P-please don’t hurt me…!”

The girl stopped, and put her hand to her chin.

“She _seems_ to be telling the truth…” She sighed and started to walk off.

“W- hey! Where are you going?” Katsumi called out.

“I have no other reason to talk to you.” She said bluntly. “You don’t know anything, so why should I bother?”

“W-well, I haven’t even gotten your name! I mean, you’re an Ultimate Student too, right?”

The stranger stopped walking.

She scoffed. “It’s a more degrading term compared to my true ability, but you could say so.”

“Wait, how can an Ultimate title be degrading? I mean, it’s the best a highschool student could hope for right now, right?”

The stranger turned back around with a sigh.

“Of course a mortal like you wouldn’t know…” She flashed a smirk. “My magical prowess far exceeds the power of an Ultimate!”

Katsumi was just confused. “…Uh…What IS your Ultimate exactly…? And, uh, your name?”

“So you really wish to know, then?” She scoffed. “I can’t help but admire your bravery. Well listen well, and never forget it! My name is Callas the Mighty, and I am among the most powerful warlocks to walk the planes of this earth!”

Silence.

“…What about your talent-?” Katsumi started.

“She’s the Ultimate Roleplayer.” Hotaru cut in.

“…Oh.”

_So roleplaying games? Like that super complicated dice one that I can never understand?_

_That explains a lot._

“W- hey!” Callas snapped. “How DARE you! That degrading title pales in comparison to my real power!”

“Yeah, sure.” Hotaru said, completely deadpan.

 _I guess she’s just playing her character,_ Katsumi thought. _But I guess I should go with it. She’s probably scary when she’s mad!_

“Wait, what did you say you were?” Katsumi asked. “A warlock?”

She smirked. “Of course, a mere mortal like you cannot wrap your head around such concepts! A warlock is a spellcaster who’s magic power is formed from a pact with a powerful entity, such as a genie or a devil.”

“Interesting…Also, you keep calling me a ‘mortal’.”

“Because that’s what you are, mortal!” She laughed, showing off a forked tongue.

“…Yeah, but what makes you any different?”

Callas stopped laughing to shoot Katsumi a glare.

“…I would kill you on the spot for such a remark, but I admire your bravery.”

Katsumi flinched.

“If you must know,” Callas continued. “I am a half-demon.”

“A half-demon?” Katsumi echoed.

“Aha, you’re starting to get it! You might not be as thick-skulled as I first thought!”

“Uh…Thanks…I’m Katsumi, by the way. Katsumi Akira, Ultimate Rhythm Game Master-”

“What makes you think we’re on a name basis, mortal?”

“…Uh…You gave me yours? It’s only polite that I give you mine?”

Callas sighed, annoyed. “Fine, fine…” She turned around and started walking off. “But don’t expect me to come running to you.”

“…Uh…Bye?”

“Just ignore that.” Hotaru said.

“Huh?”

“It’s all in her character, y’know? Apparently she’s meant to be some evil half-demon wanting to fulfil her heritage or something. She’s meant to be mean and stuff.”

“…Okay…So I just have to wait until she’s not in character, right?”

Hotaru grimaced. “Probably easier said than done…I mean she’s the Ultimate Roleplayer for a reason I guess.”

Katsumi frowned. “Yikes…This is what you meant by colourful characters, isn’t it?”

Hotaru raised an eyebrow. “…Is this because of the body paint?”

“W- no! It’s not because of the-!”

“Whoa, whoa! I’m kidding!” Hotaru said with a laugh. “I knew what you meant! And yeah, mostly.”

Katsumi turned her gaze to the ground. “That wasn’t that funny…”

“Oh well…” Hotaru turned around and started off again. “The fountain’s not too far away anyway. Let’s get going!”

Katsumi sighed. “Alright, alright…” She started after her.

True to Hotaru’s word, the fountain area wasn’t that far away.

[{BGM}](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybvIK1gRcDs)

The area itself was rather calm. The ground was paved with light coloured tiles with a white fountain in the middle, with flower gardens around it and benches in case anyone wanted to sit down.

And true to Daisuke’s word, there were some people there.

There was a boy in a red varsity jacket with a transgender flag pin on it, wearing a red uniform of some kind with a decal of a white megaphone on it and white trainers. He had beige coloured skin and blue eyes, and short brown spiky hair with one prominent spike on the side.

Another boy, standing off to the side, was a lot taller. He had dark skin and violet coloured eyes. His hair, which was styled in a side-shave, faded from a dark colour to a dark violet. He was wearing a dark purple shirt with jagged patterns on it, dark navy jeans with a studded belt and purple boots with high heels. He was wearing a long short sleeve jacket with a black fur trim, and his other accessories included white bandages on his right arm, various silver rings and a matching bracelet, a black choker belt necklace and a black cross pendant. His expression mainly just seemed bored and uninterested.

The last person was a boy with dark skin and rose pink eyes and hair. He was wearing a dark suit with a grey shirt and purple shoes. Despite having a gold wristwatch on his left hand, he was currently checking a golden pocket watch connected to a button on his suit jacket.

 _Huh. I guess Daisuke wasn’t kidding._ Katsumi thought.

The boy in the varsity jacket was the first to notice their arrival.

“Huh? Oh hey, Hotaru!”

“Hey!” Hotaru waved with a smile.

He turned to Katsumi. “I don’t think I’ve met you yet. This is pretty weird, huh?”

“Weird’s an understatement,” Katsumi said. “But yeah, I don’t think I know you.”

“Well, my name is Itsuru Kitagawa. I guess you could call me the Ultimate Cheerleader. You’re an Ultimate too, right?”

_Ultimate Cheerleader? I guess I could get that from his outfit._

“I’m Katsumi Akira. Ultimate Rhythm Game master.”

“Ultimate Rhythm Game Master? That sounds pretty cool.”

“Well you’re one to talk! Your talent sounds super cool too!”

“I guess,” Itsuru said with a chuckle. “It is pretty fun.”

“So do you, like, cheer for sports teams or something?” Katsumi asked. “Or does your squad do competitions, or…?”

“Second one. I’m not really a sports person.”

“…Wait, but you-”

“Yeah it’s super ironic, I know…” Itsuru said with a chuckle. “Competitions are a lot more fun, anyways. Means we don’t get sidelined for whoever’s chasing the ball around…”

Katsumi laughed.

“That aside,” He continued. “Do you have any idea what’s going on or are you in the dark like the rest of us?”

“The latter, unfortunately…” Katsumi said with a sigh.

“Jeez…” He shrugged. “I mean I guess the guys who brought us here at least brought us to a theme park instead of some old abandoned building…”

Katsumi giggled. “Yeah, you have a point. So what do you reckon this is, some kinda field trip?”

“Kat, I’ve said it isn’t a field trip like a million times.” Hide quipped from behind her.

“I’m not too sure,” Itsuru said. “I mean, this theme part was sponsored by Hope’s Peak, right? So it’d make sense for this to be their doing. But I’m thinking less field trip and more trust-building exercise.”

“Trust-building exercise?” Katsumi echoed.

“Yeah! You know, like those camps that some school and sports clubs do? They take us to some location or camp in the middle of nowhere for about a week so everyone can get to know each other? Something like that.”

“Huh…” Katsumi put her hand to her chin. “That’s not a bad thought, actually…”

“Yeah! Maybe all the academy staff are just giving us time to have a look around or something. They’ll call us over for some kinda announcement at some point soon, hopefully.”

“Yeah, hopefully. Well, it was nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too!” Itsuru said with a smile.

Katsumi smiled back and turned around.

“He seems nice.” She said to Hide.

Hide shrugged. “Makes sense, I guess. Who you gonna talk to next?”

“Hmmm…”

Katsumi looked the two other people over.

The boy in the suit was putting his gold pocket watch away into a hidden pocket in his jacket. The taller boy was still standing at a distance from everyone else, with the same uninterested expression on his face.

“Let’s see here…” Hide pointed to them. “We have someone who looks like he just walked out of The Great Gatsby, and we have someone who’s ‘it’s not a phase, mom’ phase ended up becoming an ‘it’s not a phase, mom’ lifestyle. Which would you prefer?”

“H-Hide! You can’t just say stuff like that!”

“Well you gotta make a decision.”

“…Well…Uh…”

Before Katsumi could decide, a girl had joined them.

She had peach coloured skin and blue eyes, with her brunette hair tied into a ponytail that almost always looked like it was flowing in the wind. Her outfit made her look like she had just walked off the set of a steampunk fantasy movie; with mainly purple colours, and complete with a cape and top hat with goggles. She was also carrying a black cane with a golden handle, which she was resting over her shoulder as she walked over, whistling a tune to herself as she did.

That stopped as soon as she saw and made eye contact with the boy in the suit.

He stopped, blinking a few times in disbelief.

“…Hana…?”

The girl’s eyes widened, as a smile suddenly spread across her face.

“TAKEEEEEEIIIIII!!!!”

She sprinted over and tossed her cane to the side as she practically tackled him into a hug. He was surprised at first, but eventually hugged her back.

Everyone – well aside from the other boy, he still wore that same expression as always – was surveying this with surprise.

“…Okay. Well. Great Gatsby guy it is.” Hide quipped.

The boy in the suit pulled away for a brief second to look the girl over. “Are you okay? Are you hurt or anything?”

“Jeez Takei, you worry too much! I’m fine!” The girl brushed his concerns off and squeezed him tighter. “It’s just so good to seeeeeeee you! I thought we’d be in different classes!”

The boy rolled his eyes and hugged her back. “Alright, I agree…It is good to see you Hana.”

Once they finally pulled away again after a few seconds, Katsumi decided now was a better time as any to introduce herself. As she walked over, the other girl noticed her.

“Hey!” She said. Her voice almost had a tinge of a British accent, further befitting her steampunk aesthetic. “I don’t think I’ve met you before.”

“Yeah, I don’t think we’ve met either.” Katsumi replied. She turned her gaze to the boy, then back to her again. “Do you two…Know each other?”

“Oh, of course!” She gestured to him with her free hand. “He’s my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?”

“We met while we were in highschool,” The boy explained. “When we got accepted into Hope’s Peak, I just assumed we might be sorted into different classes.”

“Right…” Katsumi said. _That explains how she, uh…Greeted him._ “Well, I’m Katsumi Akira. The Ultimate Rhythm Game Master. And you two are…?”

“Takeo Taigen. And I’m the Ultimate Watchmaker.” He smiled politely. “It’s a pleasure.”

“Ultimate Watchmaker? That sounds pretty interesting.”

“My father owns a well renowned business. I was taught the craft at a young age and am apparently next in line to inherit it.” He explained. “It’s not much, really.”

“Takei, you’re downplaying yourself again…!” The other girl pouted. “It’s super complicated stuff, don’t just act like it’s nothing!”

He chuckled. “Alright, alright…”

“What about you?” Katsumi asked, turning to the girl.

“Oh! Sorry, I almost forgot…My name is Hana Mari. And I’m the Ultimate Steampunk Writer!”

_Well that certainly explains her outfit- wait._

_I’ve heard that name before. Where have I-_

It clicked.

“Wait a minute! As in, Hana Mari, the author of the Clockwise series??”

Hana smiled, flipping her cane over her shoulder. “The one and only!”

“I love those books! I still have the first collection in my room!”

“Awww, thank you! I’m so happy to know that people still like them!”

The Clockwise series was a steampunk fantasy novel series that rose in popularity within a matter of days of the first book being published. The series was about an apprentice inventor and aviator trying to find their place in the world and going on various adventures together. Time travel and manipulation was a central element to the story, which is how the series got it’s name.

Katsumi remembered finding the first book in the library in her first year of highschool, and immediately fell in love with the story and main couple.

“Anyway,” Takeo said, bringing Katsumi out of her brief fantasy. “I assume that you too have no recollection of how you ended up here, correct?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, yeah.” Katsumi said with a nod.

“This is quite strange,” Hana mused, tapping the ground with her cane.

“Well Itsuru figures it’s some kind of trust-building exercise.” Katsumi suggested. “That’s not a bad idea, right?”

“…I don’t have enough experience with those to know for sure, so I’ll just have to take your word for it.” Takeo said. “Either way,” He turned to Hana. “I assume it’s best if we look around, correct?”

Hana nodded with a smile. “Mm-hm!”

“Okay, see you guys around!” Katsumi said.

They waved each other off as the couple left.

“…Huh.” Hide noted. “Now that I think about it it makes perfect sense.”

“What, did you not know they were a couple?” Katsumi asked.

Hide shrugged. “You saw their reaction to seeing each other. Had to be the first time they saw each other since they got here.”

“Fair enough,” She sighed. “Guess there’s only-”

She stopped, looking around. “Wait, where’d Hotaru go?”

Despite having been with them when they arrived at the fountain, the Ultimate Detective was nowhere to be seen.

Hide shrugged. “She must’ve gone to do her own thing while you were talking to Takeo and Hana. I mean, she’s the Ultimate Detective. Probably gone to investigate or something like that.”

“But there’s nothing TO investigate! You heard what Itsuru said, this is a trust-building exercise!”

“Probably. Probably a trust-building exercise.”

“Whatever…Guess there’s only one person left.”

Katsumi looked over to the one stranger left.

He seemed to have noticed her by now, but tutted to himself and turned away, uninterested.

Katsumi gulped. _This guy looks scary, not gonna lie…_

“Well,” Hide spoke up. “Someone’s got the intimidation factor turned up to eleven.”

“W- you can’t just say that!”

He shrugged. “Just pointing it out. You gonna introduce yourself or what-”

“Hey!”

“Huh?” The two of them turned around to the source of the voice.

It was Naoki. They had also just happened to have arrived at the fountain too.

“Oh, hey!” Katsumi said. “What’s going on?”

“Mainly just been looking around I guess, and I noticed you were here and wanted to see what was up. At least you didn’t run into me this time.” They quipped with a laugh.

“Ha…Ha…Yeah…”

“Come on, you have to admit.” Hide said with a smirk. “That was pretty funny.”

“IT WASN’T FUNNY!!!”

“Whoa, whoa!” Naoki backed up to try and get her to cool off. “I was just messing around! Chill out!”

Katsumi sighed.

“Anyway,” They continued. “Did you find anythi-”

They stopped in their tracks when they noticed the tall boy over next to the fountain.

Their expression soured.

“…Oh. It’s you.”

[{BGM}](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QL72f1himk)

“Hm…?” He looked up to them. “…Ah. Didn’t expect to see you here.”

Katsumi stopped. “Wait, what?”

He seemed to ignore her completely. “What, did you get an application too? Or did you just follow me here?”

“W- no! I woke up here as well! I’m not STALKING you!”

The boy tutted, turning away. “…Whatever…”

“Waitwaitwaitwaitwait!” Katsumi waved her hands around in an attempt to get either of their attention. “You two KNOW each other!?”

The boy cracked one eye open. “…You’re still here.”

“W- of course I’m still here! I haven’t introduced myself to you yet!”

He groaned. “Ugh…Do I have to do this introduction song and dance with everyone…? It’s so dull…”

“W-what’re you talking about!? You haven’t even answered my question, you know!”

“Why should I? Answering your question doesn’t seem to matter to me.”

Katsumi tensed, annoyed.

_What the hell is up with this guy!? Either way, it seems like he’s a dead end…_

She turned to Naoki. “Naoki, how do you two know each other?”

Naoki groaned, bringing a hand to their forehead.

“………He’s my ex.”

“ _HE’S YOUR_ _ **WHAT!?!?**_ ”

“We only dated for, like, a year and a half. But he decided to cut things off for literally no reason.”

“There _was_ a reason.” The boy cut in. “You were boring me.”

“Oh my GOD, you’re STILL with the boredom thing!? Can you just cut that out? It’s getting old. No, wait, it got old like, a year ago.”

He shrugged. “I can’t help that the world is boring. Not something I can control, really. And the thought of trying is dull to me.”

Katsumi’s eyes were darting between the two like the audience during a tennis match. Sure, with the context from Naoki the back and forth made a bit more sense, but she still had no idea what was up with this guy.

She cleared his throat to get his attention.

“A-hem! Uh, excuse me?” She said. “Can I at least get your name and talent? Please?”

“Why should I?”

“Uh, because it’s polite? Hell, I’ll give you mine first. I’m Katsumi Akira, and I’m the Ultimate Rhythm Game Master. And you are…?”

He rolled his eyes with a sigh.

“Alright, fine…Kazuhiko Ueda. Ultimate Model. Satisfied?”

He made a dismissive motion with his hand. “You can leave now.”

“W- huh!?”

“I’ve given you my name and talent. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it? So leave. Go before you become even more of an eyesore than you already are.”

… _Okay, I guess him being a model explains his outfit…But now he’s being just plain rude!_

“Wh- hey! Why are you being like this!? I get if you didn’t want to talk to me at first, but now you’re just being an asshole! What’s your proble-”

“Oh my GOD, STOP TALKING.” He made a stopping motion with his hand. “Every word that comes out of your mouth is boring me more and more by the second…! Ugh, I’d rather slowly pull all my intestines out from my mouth than have to listen to you for even one more minute…”

Katsumi flinched back at that particularly graphic image. “I- huh-!?”

Naoki dismissed it. “Yeah yeah, he says this shit all the time…”

She froze. _He says this kind of stuff ALL THE TIME!?_

Naoki sighed and strode over to him.

“Alright Kaz, listen to me. I’m not sure if we’re staying here or not, but if we do end up staying here, I’d like this experience to at least be somewhat bearable. So will you please, _for the love of god,_ at least TRY not to be an asshole?”

Kazuhiko tutted, annoyed. “It’s not my fault that everything bores me. And move, you’re getting too close.”

Naoki growled under their breath, and was about to snap back at him when someone else spoke up.

“…Uh…I feel like I REALLY shouldn’t be here right now…”

It was at this point that everyone realised that Itsuru was still there.

“…Ah. You’re still here too.” Kazuhiko noted.

Itsuru flinched back. “Oh god, I said that out loud…!”

Naoki stood there for a few minutes, before turning away from Kazuhiko and walking over to Itsuru with a slight smile.

“Hey there.” They greeted as they strode over confidently. “I don’t think I’ve met you before. Who might you be?”

“W-who, me?” Itsuru stammered. “I-I’m, uh…I-Itsuru Kitagawa. Ultimate Cheerleader. Yeah.”

“Huh. Neat talent.” They offered him a hand. “I’m Naoki. Naoki Sato. Ultimate Dancer.”

“U-um…” Itsuru slowly started to take their hand, most likely assuming for a handshake or something. “Nice to…Meet you…?”

Naoki smiled. “Likewise~”

“Attempting to make me jealous already?” Kazuhiko cut in, deadpan. “Typical. That wouldn’t even work, anyway.”

Naoki spun around to glare at him. “Oh would you just shut up!”

“W-well, okay!” Itsuru said, starting to take a few steps back. “It r-really was lovely to meet you all, but I’d better be going now, BYE!” He spun around and sprinted off.

“W- hey!” Naoki called out after him.

They briefly shot another glare at Kazuhiko and muttered “Kaz you motherfUCKER…!” before turning back around and running after him.

Everyone else was left in a painfully awkward silence for a few seconds.

Kazuhiko sighed. “…How dull…”

“W- that’s all you have to say!?” Katsumi exclaimed.

His eyes narrowed. “What did I say to you about talking? Ugh…” He turned around and left. “Whatever…”

Katsumi groaned. “First a couple, now two exes!? This is getting insane…!”

Hide shrugged. “I mean, you guys ARE Ultimates. That’s probably somewhere in the contract. I mean, didn’t one of the classes have a literal serial killer or something?”

“I guess you’re right…But that guy is just a jerk!”

He hummed quietly. “Yeah, dude’s impossible to read. And he just seems bored of everything…”

“I think we should just leave now…” Katsumi said with a sigh. “There are two people left, right?”

“Yeah, there are two people left. Hey,” He reached down to ruffle her hair. “You’re not as bad as math as you thought.”

“W- hey!” She pushed him off. “It takes me ages to fix this!”

He laughed, pulling away. “Alright, alright…So, where to next?”

“Hmmm…Well, that hotel place over there seems like a good shot.” She pointed. “And I’ll hopefully be able to see if there’s anyone else on the way there.”

Hide shrugged. “That’s pretty good logic. So, shall we get going?”

“Oh yeah…” Katsumi started walking with a slight grimace. “After all that, I’d rather be ANYWHERE but here…”

[{BGM}](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnZACFtRbWc)

On the way to the hotel, Katsumi did notice someone. At the waterpark area to be precise.

The waterpark was made up of a number of different slides and towers, but it did have a relatively normal pool in front of it if people just wanted to swim relatively normally.

There was a girl nearby the pool, crouching down and humming to herself as she swished her hand through the water.

She had relatively light beige skin and faded blue eyes, and her black hair was tied in a pair of pigtails that fell over her shoulders, which was also styled with a pair of neon pink hairclips with stars on them. She was also wearing a blue and black long-sleeve swimsuit. Over it, she was wearing a red hoodie with the sleeves rolled up, dark pink shorts and rose pink trainers, and a silver whistle was hanging around her neck.

“Um, excuse me?” Katsumi said to get her attention.

“Hm?” She stopped humming and turned her head around. “Oh, hello there!”

“Hi, I don’t think we’ve met yet.”

The girl fully turned around and stood back up. “No, I don’t think we have. I assume you’re an Ultimate too, right?”

“Yeah, actually! I’m Katsumi Akira, the Ultimate Rhythm Game Master.”

“Oh, that sounds like so much fun!” She said with a smile. “Oh, and my name is Keiko Kameko. I’m the Ultimate Sea Animal Trainer!”

“Sea animal trainer?” Katsumi echoed. “So do you do shows and stuff?”

“Yeah, that’s right! My family owns a marine animal park, so I get to perform with and look after all the animals!”

“That sounds really cool! So what,” Katsumi looked around her to the pool. “Were you checking out the waterpark or something?”

Keiko shrugged. “I guess. This place looked kinda fun, but I wanted to see what to make of it is all.” She turned around and swished her hand through the water once more. “Whatever’s running this thing is doing a good job of keeping the water at the perfect temperature.”

“So what,” Katsumi quipped. “Like, not too hot but it doesn’t give you frostbite when you jump in?”

“…Well that’s one way of putting it!” Keiko said with a laugh.

The two of them laughed for a bit.

“So have you met everyone yet?” Keiko asked.

“Almost everyone.” Katsumi said. “There’s one more person I think. Actually, did you see anyone while you were here?”

“Hmm…” Keiko put her hand to her chin. “I can’t say for sure since I was mostly checking out this waterpark place, but I think I did see someone heading to that big hotel place.”

“What,” Katsumi asked, pointing to the hotel building. “That one?”

“Yeah, there. I mean it makes sense to check that area out, right?”

“Yeah, it does make sense I guess. Well, I’d better introduce myself, right?”

“Well good luck with that! It was nice to meet you!”

“Same here! See you later!”

After saying their goodbyes, Katsumi turned and started heading towards the hotel.

“She seems really nice!” She said.

“She does,” Hide agreed. “Probably a good sign. Likely means she’s nice to the animals she works with too.”

“I mean if you are an Ultimate level animal trainer, you have to take good care of them, right?”

“Suppose so.”

“So if Keiko was right, the last person is in that hotel place, right?”

“That’s if the person you haven’t met is the person Keiko was talking about. It’s possible she could’ve just seen someone you already met and hadn’t realised. She never said who it was she saw, after all.”

Katsumi’s expression faded a bit. “…Oh, good point….Well we were headed to the hotel anyway, right?”

Hide shrugged. “Alright, I guess we were…It’s not much longer of a walk, so I guess we should keep going.”

There was a brief pause as Hide slowly realised Katsumi hadn’t replied to him.

“Hm?” He turned to her.

Katsumi had a playful grin on her face.

“…Kat, what’re you-”

She tagged him.

“Race you there!”

She sprinted off in the direction of the hotel.

“W- hey!” Hide called out before running after her. “Get back here!”

It didn’t take much longer for them to get to the hotel. Unfortunately now, both of them were out of breath.

Katsumi shot him a smug look. “Beat yooouuu~”

“Oh, come on…! You had a head start!”

“Aw, there’s still next time~”

“Whatever…”

[{BGM}](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1qcrHUllQI)

Once they walked in they were met with a lavish foyer, with marble pillars, red carpeting an even a miniature fountain in the centre of the room.

“Whoa…” Katsumi said, in awe.

“Yeah,” Hide agreed. “Wouldn’t believe it’s a hotel for a theme park, huh?”

“I mean, it IS endorsed by Hope’s Peak. Makes sense they’d splash out.”

He shrugged. “I guess.”

“But hey!” Katsumi’s eyes sparkled. “If Itsuru’s right and we are staying here, then we have somewhere amazing to stay!”

Hide chuckled. “Alright, that’s a pretty good point. Hey, you reckon the beds are just as expensive as the foyer?”

“Aaaaahhh! You’re getting me excited!”

“Seriously, have you seen the beds rich people have? If I’m right, it’ll be like sleeping on a cloud or something.”

“That’ll be amaziiiing! And I’ll DEFINITELY need a nap after all of this…!”

“Agreed.”

The two of them started towards one of the elevators when Katsumi heard the sound of some kind of arcade game.

She perked up at the sound. “Huh?”

“…Ah.” Hide realised. “So she is here then.”

“Who?”

Hide pointed.

Someone was sitting on one of the benches playing a handheld arcade game.

She had dark skin and navy coloured eyes, with some kind of makeup painting two spiked swipes on either side of her jaw. Her short black hair was styled into a spiky fringe, and she was wearing a dark grey beanie hat with cat ears and two badges pinned to it – one with a biromantic asexual flag, and the other just a navy blue. She was wearing faded jeans with tears around the knee area and black shoes, a pair of navy blue headphones around her neck and a dark grey hoodie with a cyan decal of a Space Invaders alien and text saying “GAME OVER”.

 _Ah, so she must be the last one._ Katsumi thought as she walked over.

“Hm?” The girl looked up from her game when she heard Katsumi approach. “Who’re you? I don’t recognise you.”

“Huh? Oh, my name’s Katsumi Akira, and I’m the Ultimate Rhythm Game Master. You’re an Ultimate too, right?”

“Mm-hm.” She turned her game off and put it in her pocket. “Azami Chitose. Ultimate Hacker. Nice to meet ya.”

“Nice to meet you too. And…Ultimate Hacker?”

Azami nodded. “Uh-huh.” She narrowed her eyes as she got up. “Why, got a problem?”

“W- no, no!”

“Good.” She sighed. “Pretty weird situation, huh?”

“Huh? Well, yeah I guess. But it’s gotta be a trust-building exercise, right?”

“Sure, but wouldn’t we have gotten a bus here? If the academy organised this, they probably would’ve put us on a bus or train or something like that.”

“…True, but maybe it was to build suspense! Get us excited!”

Azami shrugged. “I dunno, it doesn’t feel like the academy organised this. I mean, I probably have a few enemies, so who’s to say what this is.”

“…I guess…But this does kinda have Hope’s Peak’s name written all over it, you know? Hope’s Peak students, Hope’s Peak endorsed location, you get what I mean?”

“Whatever you say.” Azami turned around and started to walk off. “Well, I’m gonna look around a bit. See you around I guess.”

“Uh…Okay, bye.”

Katsumi turned to Hide. “…She doesn’t talk much, does she?”

Hide shrugged. “Maybe she doesn’t trust you that much just yet. You heard what she says, she probably has a few enemies. Probably doesn’t know what to make of all this, either.”

“Makes sense…”

“And besides, she kinda has a point. Even if Itsuru was right about the trust-building exercise thing, we still would’ve gotten some kind of transport here. Like a bus, or a train, or a plane or something.”

Katsumi put a hand to her chin. “…That’s actually a really good point…”

“And if this was a trust-building exercise, why am _I_ here?”

She stopped. “Huh?”

“Think about it.” Hide explained. “A trust-building exercise would be for the Ultimate class, right? But I’m on the Reserve Course. So why am I a part of it? It doesn’t really make sense if you think about it.”

“Hmmm…Well, maybe the teacher gave you an invite!”

“Why would they do that? Again, only on the Reserve Course.”

“Hide, I don’t think thinking too much about this will help. I mean, we’re here now, right? Might as well make the most of it!”

Hide sighed. He was about to say something, when a chime rang out over a loudspeaker.

DING DONG DONG DING!

“Huh?” The two of them turned to the source of the sound, being a number of speakers connected to some kind of screen.

As a matter of fact, Katsumi realised, those screens had been popping up around the park every so often. How strange…

Before she could think about that more, the screen whirred to life, displaying an image of a silhouette of someone over a flurry of static.

[{BGM}](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSN7cGb_nKE)

“Ahem,” They started. “I- uh, where’s the page for this…” The silhouette moved and the sound of rustling paper was heard. “O-oh, here it is. This is an announcement from your hostess. I am speaking to notify you that there will be a whole class meeting soon. I will make another announcement closer to that time, but for now- ah!”

More rustling paper noises. The speaker had evidently dropped their script.

“Crap crap crap…! The boss is gonna kill me for this…!” The silhouette leaned down out of view for a few seconds. “Uhh…Uh…Ah! Got it!”

The silhouette reappeared and continued.

“Where were we-? Oh, there.” They cleared their throat. “I will make another announcement closer to that time, but for now, feel free to get acquainted with the area. Your rooms are in the upper floor of the hotel, so feel free to have some rest if you want. I’ll let you know when the announcement is, but, uh…Bye-bye for now!………Wait, where’s the off button-”

The screen turned off.

Nobody said anything for a few seconds.

Katsumi put a hand to her hip.

“…Okay, whoever that was, they evidently aren’t that good at their job.”

“W- Kat!”

“What? They dropped their script and forgot their lines at least twice!”

“You’re focusing on the wrong thing here! Who the hell even WAS that?”

“Hmm…” Katsumi put a hand to her chin. “Well they said the announcement was from our ‘hostess’, right? I’m still going with the trust-building exercise theory, so I’m guessing that that was our supervisor.”

“Alright, that’s some pretty sound logic.” Hide mused. “And since they specifically used the term ‘hostess’, we can assume that they’re a girl. Right?”

“Yeah, that also makes sense.”

“So what, you reckon everyone heard that announcement?”

Before Katsumi could answer, the sound of footsteps nearby alerted her to the fact that Azami had returned.

She had a confused expression. “Hey, you saw that too, right?”

“Okay, so that’s a yes.” Hide said.

“Well she was just in the hotel,” Katsumi pointed out. “That doesn’t mean that-”

The doors swung open as Keiko ran in.

“Oh thank goodness, there’s more people here!” Keiko sighed with relief. “I assume you all saw that announcement too, right?”

“…Okay, so that’s definitely a yes.” Hide said.

“Alright, alright…” Katsumi folded her arms.

The doors opened again, as more people filed in.

“Whoooaaaaa!” Pyuko’s eyes lit up. “This place is so fancyyyyy!”

“Um, I don’t think that’s what we’re meant to be focusing on…?” Saki pointed out.

“No, I agree with them.” Seira said. “This foyer looks amazing.”

“Uh, guys?” Itsuru spoke up. “Saki kinda has a point. I mean, assuming everyone saw the same thing, right?”

“Well,” Pyuko spoke up. “The screen speaker thing nearby Pyuko played a chime.”

“Yeah, and the screen turned on,” Hana continued. “But all that was on it was static-”

“Wrong.” Kazuhiko cut in. “That wasn’t the only thing on the screen.”

“E-eh?”

“Tch, weren’t you paying attention? Idiot. There was someone behind the static, but all that could be seen was their silhouette.”

“You could’ve said that a lot politer, you know.” Takeo said, shooting him a glare.

Kazuhiko simply rolled his eyes.

“Okay, okay.” Katsumi spoke up. “Well, that means we all saw the same thing, right? So this hostess’ message must’ve been broadcast all over the park.”

“Ohh, so I was right!” Hotaru said with a grin as she wrote some things down on her notepad. “I saw those devices appearing every so often around the park, I knew they were for broadcasting stuff!”

“…Right…But that still doesn’t answer the question we all have right now-”

“Who this hostess is.” Daisuke finished her question for her.

Katsumi perked up. “Huh?”

“That’s…What I assume you were going to say. Right?”

“Actually…Yeah. That’s was what I was going to say.”

“Well, if Pyuko remembers correctly,” Pyuko suggested. “Hostess-chan said that she would gather us all together later. Maybe Hostess-chan will reveal herself then?”

“Yeah, I think she did say that.” Naoki agreed. “Pyuko’s probably right. She’ll probably show herself later.”

“Thank you, Naoki-cha-!” Pyuko started, before stopping themselves.

“…Err…Chan?…Kun?…Sa-?”

“Kun is fine.”

“Oh, okay. Pyuko just wanted to make sure.”

“So what,” Kazuhiko said. “We just have to wait until then?” He groaned. “That just sounds dull…”

“I mean, we don’t exactly have any other options.” Eren pointed out. “Whoever this hostess chick is doesn’t wanna tell us who she is right now, so we’ll just have to wait.”

“But can this hostess even be trusted?” Daisuke pointed out. “If her title is to be believed, she likely has some form of knowledge behind our current situation. Am I wrong?”

“Daisuke has a point,” Hotaru agreed, clicking her pen. “If this is some kinda trust-building exercise that Hope’s Peak came up with, this hostess is probably like our supervisor or something.”

“Exactly. Then she must have an idea as to what’s going on, no?”

“Uuuuhhh, everyone’s using too many big words!” Keiko pulled at her pigtails in frustration.

Saki nervously fiddled with one of the pleats of her skirt. “This is way too confusiiiing…!”

“Guys, guys!” Hotaru tried to get everyone to calm down. “We can’t be freaking out right now! That’s the last thing we should do!”

“I, for one, vote for freaking out.” Seira said. “This is really crazy.”

“No, I agree with Hotaru.” Katsumi said. “I think we should at least save the freaking out for later.”

“Well there’s not much else to do now, is there?”

“I guess, but you heard what that person said, right? We still have time until the proper announcement. She said we should get acquainted with the area, right?”

“Yeah, she did say something along those lines…” Naoki mused.

“But isn’t that what we’ve been doing for the past…I dunno, god knows how much time at this point?” Eren pointed out.

“I mean, yeah?” Katsumi said. “But there’s not really much else to do right now. She never really gave us any instructions.”

“And why should we listen to you of all people?” Kazuhiko questioned, tilting his head slightly. “What gives you the right to suddenly take charge of us? Last time I checked, you aren’t a supervisor.”

“W- I’m not taking charge! I’m just saying what that announcement said!” She sighed. “Look, I get that people are tired and stressed. Probably. I don’t know, either way, maybe we should just relax? Hell, didn’t she say something about dorm rooms?”

There was a general murmur of agreement amongst the group.

“I guess maybe taking five _would_ be a good idea…” Azami mused.

“And we’re at a theme park!” Pyuko agreed. “That’s, like, one of the funnest places on earth!”

“I’m not sure if any of the rides are working, though.” Hana pointed out.

“Oh. Well, it’ll still be fun to look around!”

“I’m not sure,” Daisuke spoke up. “Something about this isn’t right, we should remain vigilant in case-”

“We’ll do that later!” Hotaru dismissed. “It’ll be fiiiiiiine, just relax for now!”

It didn’t take much longer for everyone to start dispersing after that. Some started heading to the door, while others started heading upstairs, likely to their dorm rooms.

Katsumi sighed. “That was a lot…”

“But hey, you seemed to convince people to calm down.” Hide said.

“Did I?…Oh yeah, I did! I mean I just said what that hostess lady said, but I still convinced them!”

Hide chuckled. “Alright, alright…”

[{BGM}](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBhTwLddWuM)

It was at this point that they noticed that there was one person who hadn’t left.

Daisuke. His foot was tapping on the ground, and he had his hand to his chin with a pensive expression.

He had also evidently been saying something, but Katsumi hadn’t picked all of it up.

“Look, I know they said you’d be on an away mission,” He said. “But they aren’t even letting you answer me!? This is…!” He sighed. “…Look Usagi, I can’t just leave this…I know it’s impossible, but there’s way too many similarities here…! I don’t know when you’re gonna hear this, but…Please just call me back when you can.”

_Usagi? Who’s that? What’s he talking about?_

Katsumi walked over to him.

“Hey, Daisuke? Is something up?”

“Wha-!? I, uh-!” He quickly tapped the side of his sunglasses and cleared his throat. “H-hey, Katsumi.”

“Is something going on? Who were you talking to?”

“Uh-! N…No-one. Don’t worry about it.”

“…Right…Is something bothering you? You seem kinda…Disturbed? Is that the right word for it?”

Daisuke sighed. “…Look Katsumi, I just can’t stay calm about this.”

“What? Why not?”

“You’re probably going to think I’m crazy, but… _You know about the Hope’s Peak Academy killing games, right?_ ”

“Huh? Oh, well uh…Yeah, but not that much. I mean we learned about them in school, but they were, like, 10, 20 years ago. Why?”

“Well, the basic scenario for them was this: a number of Ultimate students thinking they’re about to start a new class black out as soon as they enter the academy, and wake up in an unfamiliar location. Then they are accosted by their captor claiming to be their headmaster, and forced into a game where they have to kill each other to survive.”

“…Right, uh…Why are you telling me this again?”

Daisuke adjusted his sunglasses.

“ _The beginning of what I just said. Does that sound familiar to you?_ ”

“What? I-”

She suddenly realised what Daisuke was implying.

“…Oh.”

“Exactly. I know it’s impossible, since everyone who orchestrate the original killing games are either rehabilitated or long dead, but I can’t ignore it.”

“B-but doesn’t this feel like a stretch? I mean, they were at least 10 years ago! Probably more than that!”

“I know that! But the fact that we all woke up here with no memory of how we got here right after walking into the academy doors can’t be a coincidence!”

“Daisuke, I can’t make heads or tails of this situation either. But saying that it’s another killing game is way too much of a stretch! The stress and everything has just…Messed with your brain, that’s all.”

“Look- am I the only one taking this seriously!? We’ve got a potentially lethal situation on our hands, and everyone’s treating it like it’s nothing-!”

“Whoa whoa whoa, calm down!” She put a hand on his shoulder. “Just breathe!”

“But this is…!”

He tensed his fists and sighed, taking a few deep breaths.

He brought a hand to his head.

“Look, the stress is making you overthink this.” Katsumi said. “I mean, we’ve all been there! Who _hasn’t_ worried that they’d get hit by a falling piano on their first day of school, right?”

“…I get what you’re saying Katsumi, but-”

“No buts! You’re just stressed. Everything’s fine.”

Daisuke sighed, and eventually slowly nodded.

“Good.” Katsumi said. “I think you just need some rest. Hide and I were talking about it; if the foyer is this fancy, imagine the beds…!”

“…What? I don’t-”

“Come on, I’m going too, so you might as well come with me.”

Her hand moved down to his lower arm as she started walking off, dragging him along with her.

“W- hey-!”

“Don’t worry, I don’t think the elevator ride’s that long.” She pulled him into the elevator and pressed the button for the next floor.

Daisuke sighed. “…I don’t have a choice, do I.”

“Nope! You’re getting some rest, whether you like it or not!”

“Alright, alright…”

The elevator door opened, and it didn’t take much longer for them to find the dorms.

“Oh, hey!” Katsumi noted. “The academy were even nice enough to label the doors for us with our names. How nice!”

Daisuke frowned uneasily.

“…Come on, don’t worry about anything! Nothing’s gonna happen, got it?”

“I’m still not sure…”

“Look, you’re just tired. Just go to your room lie down for a few minutes. Okay?”

“Okay, okay…” He walked over to his dorm. “…Nice talk, I guess.”

She nodded with a smile. “Yeah! See you later, Daisuke!”

“…Yeah…”

He walked into his room, leaving Katsumi to find hers.

“He seems nice.”

“He means well, I guess.” Hide said.

“I don’t get what he’s worrying about. I mean, a new killing game? After, like, what? 20 years? Yeah, right!” She scoffed.

“Sure, but I think I get why he thinks like that. The two situations are kinda similar I guess. And I reckon he’s the kinda person that’s always on guard.”

Katsumi eventually found her room.

“I guess, but he’s just being paranoid. Nothing bad’s gonna happen!”

Hide chuckled. “Whatever you say, Kat.”

The two briefly waved each other off, before Katsumi opened the door and went inside.

Just as Hide thought earlier, the room was amazing.

The bed was pink with white pillows, and heart-shaped pillows as well for hugging. The fluffy carpet was a pale rose colour, and the walls were a dull magenta. There were cutesy anime posters on the walls too, and Katsumi could also see a console rhythm game connected to a small TV in front of two beanbag chairs. She could also see a walk-in closet and an en-suite, so whoever designed this room certainly went all out.

It was almost like this room was designed specifically for her.

She shrugged those thoughts off as she practically jumped into the bed.

“Aaahhhh…” She sighed as she hugged one of the pillows.

This was almost heavenly. She was lying on the best bed she’s ever laid on in her life, in the best hotel room she’s ever been in in her life. The hotel room of a theme park the academy sent her to, no less!

What a weird first day, she thought as she slowly drifted off. But nevertheless…

This was going to be the best field trip ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, Katsumi. No. It really won't.  
> I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!  
> I'm really sorry about the long wait again, life and stuff got in the way  
> But thanks for reading until the end! <3
> 
> The next one...Is where shit gets real  
> (please leave any theories in the comments! I love seeing them!)


End file.
